BOYS SOCCER: West wins playoff opener over Capistrano Valley

There were a few distressful moments near the end, but West Torrance still held off Capistrano Valley.

A goal by Joseph Barakat less than two minutes into the second half and an official waving off a late score by the Cougars allowed the Warriors to prevail 1-0 in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section Division I playoffs Friday at West Torrance.

Capistrano Valley (9-10-4) appeared to tie the score with about a minute remaining, when Nicholas Godfrey booted a shot past West goalie Weston Adkins after a wild scramble in front of the net that occurred after a free kick. But one of the officials called offsides on the Cougars' Alejandro Velazquez, negating the goal.

"Debatable. I wasn't in line and I couldn't really see it all, but the referee said (Velazquez) was in an offsides position," said Capo Valley coach Jason Sorrell, whose club also failed to convert a penalty kick at the 77th minute. "That was the answer he gave. We were arguing that the ball came backwards after it bounced off the goalie. But he said (Velazquez) was in an offsides position when the ball was kicked. ... It (hurts) for the match to end that way."

Barakat and the Warriors (12-6-4) didn't miss a chance at securing some good fortune early in the second half. Just before the 42nd-minute mark, Barakat delivered by slipping a shot past Capistrano Valley goalie Matthew Bermudez for the match's lone goal.

Barakat, a junior midfeielder, just missed the mark on another attempt about a minute later and had two more shots on goal sail over the net in the opening eight minutes of the second half. He said coach Mike Shimizu's message at intermission hit home.

"The first half was kind of slow and we knew we had to come out strong in the second half," said Barakat, who has 17 goals this season. "I got a lucky touch and the shot ended up going in.

"Coach told us we had to come out stronger in the second half because we were playing soft in the first half. We were more aggressive and it paid off."

In addition, Shimizu tried to settle his players down at halftime.

"A lot it was nerves in the first half, but in the second half we started to do more of what we wanted to do," Shimizu said. "In the first half, we just banged a lot of balls forward, but in the second half we started to put the ball on the ground more and that helped create a great opportunity for the goal."

The victory allowed West to advance to the second round Wednesday, when it will meet second-seeded Loyola at a site to be determined. Loyola recorded a 1-0 decision over the Warriors earlier this season.

"They're obviously a tough matchup," Shimizu said. "Wherever we play, we'll have to do a better job of executing."

Said Barakat: "This is a good confidence booster, but we'll definitely have to come out stronger against Loyola. We lost in the earlier match, but we should have at least tied it. I'm confident going into the match."